SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " look " 10,663 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Dartmouth hockey team brings championship experience to NCAA Worcester regional
The Dartmouth College men’s hockey team has already won a championship. Now the Big Green are looking for another one, and it starts Thursday in the NCAA Division I tournament’s
Here's What a Jak & Daxter PS5 Remake Could've Looked Like
A fan pitch that didn't go anywhere
One UI 9 leak reveals new looks for Now Bar, widgets, and more
A One UI 9 leak has revealed that Samsung is working on a few design changes that will affect widgets, Now Bar, and more.
Prairie chickens, tourism business booming at Buffalo County farm
A husband and wife west of Kearney have turned their family farm into a birding business, offering visitors a close look at prairie chickens on their mating grounds.
Jak And Daxter Fans, Prepare To Have Your Heart Broken
Here’s what a remake might’ve looked like back in 2019
How to watch Mariners games: TV, streaming and channel info
Finally, just before opening day, an answer for fans looking to watch Mariners games on TV. Here's how to watch the M's through cable and satellite provider.
The Most Overlooked Sign of Chronic Inflammation, Per a Holistic Health Doctor
Dr. Taz Bhatia reveals the physical changes you don't want to ignore and how to treat them.
Samsung price hikes on Galaxy A37, A57 start at $449, make Pixel 10a worth a look
Samsung just announced its new mid-range Galaxy A37 and Galaxy A57 phones and they’re coming to the US, but with...
Fortnite developers say there will be a huge impact on development "for the rest of the year and likely beyond" following mass layoffs
Fortnite developers are still in shock following over 1,000 colleagues being laid off by Epic Games, and the game's immediate future might look dark.
More money from undisclosed sources is influencing Massachusetts politics
WBUR's Patrick Madden looked into so-called dark money groups and their growing influence in Massachusetts state politics.
Sports Betting Is Everywhere, Especially on Credit Reports
A look at sports betting and its effects on consumer financial health in states where it has been legalized and across state lines.
Italy's growth outlook darkens due to Iran conflict, business lobby says
Italy's economy will grow by 0.5% this year, the country's main business lobby Confindustria forecast on Wednesday, cutting its previous 0.7% estimate made in October and warning of strong downside risks if the conflict in Iran drags on.
FEC filings reveal how Blackburn laid the groundwork for governor campaign without personal fortune
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn has used political connections and standing as a close ally of President Donald Trump to raise large sums of cash.
German Business Outlook Sinks as Iran War Puts Recovery ‘on Ice’
Germany’s business outlook soured as higher energy prices due to the Iran war threaten to derail its nascent economic revival.
Grifols Plans IPO of U.S. Biopharma Business
The Spanish pharmaceutical company is looking to raise money to bolster its balance sheet and fund investments.
🥐 Mbappé case, auditions at Barça... Wednesday's 5️⃣ top stories
Attention, Spain’s folders, cards, and notebooks. This Wednesday, March 25, 2026, dawns with pulses racing both in the offices and on the pitch.The news forces us to take a close look at the Valdebe...
Caldara overlooked facts in slamming utilities
Normally, I appreciate the variety of perspectives published on Colorado Politics. But regarding Jon Caldara’s recent column on Xcel, he irresponsibly neglects key facts to the point of annihilating credibility (“Are our overlords normalizing power outages?” March 15). He neglects any discussion regarding the nuance of safety (or fiduciary responsibility) versus inconvenience, for example: Is […]
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 leak makes 2027's Ultra phones look both exciting and scary
New details of the so-called Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro have emerged from a trusty source.
Hold On: Devils Outlast Stars 6-4
A little bit of this would have gone a long way a couple of weeks ago. Seriously, where was this kind of effort against Calgary and Detroit? Or, for that matter, Washington last Friday? Not that it was perfect by any means, but the Devils team that turned what looked like a surefire, “get-right” game […]
DeForest Yards developer looks to add a hotel to mixed-use housing and entertainment district
Developers for an upcoming mixed-use housing and entertainment district in DeForest are looking to add a hotel to their plans.
DeForest Yards developer looks to add a hotel to mixed-use housing and entertainment district
Developers for an upcoming mixed-use housing and entertainment district in DeForest are looking to adding a hotel to their plans
Mohamed Salah's Remarkable Career At Liverpool, Broken Down In Numbers
A by-the-numbers look at Mohamed Salah's time at Liverpool after he announced he will be leaving the club at the end of this season.
PS5 Players Seemingly Skip Marathon as Sales Estimates Look Very Weak
Better hope it's a sprint
Scientists discover mirror of our solar system in 2 exoplanets forming around a star
Astronomers have spotted two planets forming around a distant infant star, offering a time capsule into see what the solar system looked like billions of years ago.
Judge says it looks like the Pentagon tried to 'cripple Anthropic'
Anthropic has sued to stop Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from labeling the company a risk after it set limits on the use of its technology.
NBA Draft stock watch: Risers, fallers entering Sweet 16
With the Sweet 16 set, NBA Draft stock is shifting. Here's a look at the biggest risers and fallers from March Madness so far.
Apple Plans AI Reboot With Siri App, New Look and ‘Ask Siri’ Button in iOS 27
Apple Inc. is testing a standalone app for its Siri voice assistant alongside a new “Ask Siri” feature that will work across the company’s software, part of a broader artificial intelligence overhaul.
Santa Cruz County business filings: Week of March 24
Businesses operating in Santa Cruz County must register with the county clerk. Lookout Santa Cruz reviews the public filings from local businesses to report on new businesses starting in the area.
Marathon has sold 1.2M copies across Steam, PS5, and Xbox
Alinea Analytics estimates show that Marathon has generated gross revenues of $55M via 1.2M copies sold on Steam, PS5, and Xbox: Looking at the split between Steam, PS5, and Xbox, Steam is clearly the main platform for Marathon, accounting for a little under 70% of the audience (800K copies sold). Meanwhile, PS5 takes about 19% (217K) and Xbox (including console, PC, and cloud) accounts for a bit over 11% or 133K. Marathon is technically a first-party Sony title, so seeing the home console struggle to break 20% of the volume is a notable data point for the ongoing platform-agnostic debate. PlayStation Studios online games will almost certainly continue being multiplatform (despite Sony reportedly pulling back on PC releases). Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe As for Marathon, the consensus among hardcore players who pushed through the awkward onboarding phase – myself included – is that it’s fantastic. The gunplay, aesthetic, and presentation are among the best in the shooter genre. A great game doesn’t always equal an immediate hit, though, as shown by our estimates. Things are looking lukewarm right now. But this might be one of those marathon-not-a-sprint situations. Had to, didn’t I? Why wasn’t Marathon a hit on the same level as Arc Raiders? One topic that came up in a lot of conversations at GDC this year was why Marathon hasn’t hit the same stratosphere as Arc Raiders. On paper, they’re both extraction shooters, and Marathon has the Bungie pedigree – the house that built the gold standard for gunplay in Halo and Destiny. Marathon’s neon-futuristic aesthetic also distinguishes itself from the gritty realism of Tarkov or the post-apocalyptic hope of ARC Raiders. But vibes can only get you so far for first impressions if the onboarding feels like a brick wall. Marathon is a sweaty PvP-focused experience with a first-time user experience and UI that I can only describe as dreadful. Players are dropped into a complex ecosystem where the UI, though visually striking, is functionally uninformative, forcing users to manually hover over nondescript, identical icons just to identify basic gear or weapon mods. This lack of clarity is compounded by punishing mechanics like a severe heat gauge for movement and a scarcity of vital resources, all without a clear tutorial or a low-stakes mode to learn the ropes. Most people – even top streamers and veteran shooter players – have no idea what’s going on in Marathon at first. Arc is on the complete other end of the spectrum. As we covered here and here, Arc Raiders offers a more collaborative, approachable loop where players often work together toward shared goals. And the objectives are instantly clear. To many players, this contrast only emphasised Marathon’s issues, especially during the testing period. Players understand the Arc Raiders loop within 30 minutes, while Marathon acts as a massive filter, chewing up newcomers and spitting them out before they can experience the depth of Bungie’s signature gunplay. What I’m getting at here is that the poor first-time user experience of Marathon’s Server Slam likely stifled launch sales, while the opposite was true for Arc. Let’s look at the pre-launch copies sold for each game during their respective Server Slams (launch-aligned) : Looking at the trajectory: Arc Raiders saw a massive 80% jump in copies sold during its three-day Server Slam (day -13 to -11). Players jumped in, realised the water was fine, and immediately opened their wallets. Marathon, meanwhile, saw a 49% increase in the four days following its Slam (Day -7 to -3). At the time of each game’s respective launch, Arc Raiders had nearly double the Steam footprint of Marathon – and word of mouth only continued to grow. Bungie could have had more time to fix the onboarding process had the beta happened earlier. But Marathon launched three days after the beta finished. These factors limited the launch sales quite a bit, I reckon. Marathon has found a niche audience, though Despite the friction-heavy start, the data suggests that those who survived Marathon’s onboarding are loving life. We’ve been tracking cross-platform DAUs, and while there’s the expected post-launch leakage, many players are sticking with it. After peaking at 478K total DAUs on its first Saturday, Marathon has settled into a respectable rhythm, holding 345K DAUs as of yesterday and averaging 380K DAUs across the weekend. Steam continues to do the heavy lifting here, consistently accounting for the lion’s share of the daily players. Players have been putting in the hours, too: On Steam, Marathon’s average playtime has climbed to 27.8 hours, significantly outpacing the console averages on PS5 (16.5h) and Xbox (17.3h). Even more telling than the averages: 22% of the Steam audience has surged past the 50-hour mark, and nearly 7% have already logged over 100 hours. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe This data suggests that once the Bungie magic clicks, it hooks players deeper than the average extraction shooter. There’s also started to be a shift in the game’s discourse. Marathon launched as one of those games that’s cool to hate. But as Marathon’s 100-hour club grows, we’re seeing conversations around its mechanical merit outweigh the negativity. Several high-profile creators, who were initially vocal critics, have spent the last week coming around on the mechanical depth of the endgame. It’s a subtle but positive signal; the hate train is losing steam, and a new narrative about the game is emerging. Bungie faithfuls unite Another interesting metric in Marathon’s first few weeks is who, exactly, is playing. Bungie leans heavily on its prestige as the “makers of Halo and Destiny,” in its marketing, and that message has clearly hit the mark. On Steam, the gravity (hammer) of Bungie’s previous work is unavoidable. A staggering 78.2% of Marathon players also played Destiny 2. The trend carries across other platforms, with 74.2% of PS5 players and 82.7% of Xbox players also having played Destiny 2. The Halo legacy lives on, it seems. More on that in a bit. While Destiny 2 went free to play, these numbers still represent a high-intent migration of a fanbase that trusts Bungie’s specific brand of kinetic gunplay and cryptic world-building. The Xbox data adds another layer of legacy. About 85.7% of Marathon players on Xbox have played Halo Infinite, while over half of the Steam audience has spent time in Halo Infinite and 36.1% in the Master Chief Collection (a paid collection of the old Bungie-made legacy games). Interestingly, we see a 55.9% overlap with ARC Raiders on Steam. Overlap is even higher there on PlayStation (60.5%) and Xbox (66.5%). And there’s also significant crossover with Helldivers 2 on all platforms, too. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe Bungie has found some of its fans with Marathon, and the challenge now is keeping this engaged in a high-stakes PvP environment when they’ve spent the last decade primarily enjoying the power fantasies of PvE. On that note… Go the full 26 miles? Or cut and run? Time for some could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. These things would have improved Marathon’s performance at launch: A more robust onboarding process, perhaps in the form of a short single-player/PvE campaign. We know Bungie fans love this stuff. A traditional arena-based mode akin to Destiny’s Crucible could have been a bridge for the cautious players who’d have been otherwise deterred by the Server Slam. It’s also a great palate cleanser after getting merked. Introducing a dedicated PvE environment would have similarly diversified the conversation and lowered the barrier for the Bungie faithful who found the pure PvP extraction loop too abrasive. PvE is safer than PvP these days. There’s an argument that a thin PvE mode would have just felt like a budget Destiny, potentially hurting the brand more. But given how dire the FTUE is, I think it would have been a net positive. Any kind of tutorialised loop that demystifies the stakes, really. While there is merit in a studio sticking firmly to a singular creative vision, and going all in on the hardcore extraction loop. Less forgiving is the technical reality is that the user interface and first-time user experience (FTUE) were not at a commercial standard for launch. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe In a landscape where player time is oversaturated and the most contested currency, a flawed FTUE is a critical failure point. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as Marathon has an incredible, unique gameplay loop, suggesting that financial success is still attainable if Bungie can pivot effectively. Bungie and PlayStation now face a difficult strategic crossroads, though – one within a challenging games market. They could: Double down on Marathon with a long-term Rainbow Six Siege- or No Man’s Sky-style recovery plan, which is something I heard Last Stand Media’s Chris Maldonado mention last week. While this could be a sunk-cost fallacy in action, it could eventually yield the audience the game’s mechanical depth deserves. Shift focus toward the inevitable Destiny 3 or another project, mitigating the escalating opportunity cost and cutting their losses, so to speak. Doing both is an expensive proposition, given the high overhead and burn rate of operating out of Bellevue, Washington. With Sony recently demonstrating a lower threshold for underperforming studios and projects, the margin for error has vanished. Whatever happens, the next six months will determine whether Marathon becomes a cornerstone of Sony’s live-service portfolio or a cautionary tale of vision exceeding accessibility. I’m hoping it’s the former, because Marathon rocks. As always, hit subscribe to get updates on Marathon and other relevant games. Subscribe Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Treating addiction
Alcohol and drug addiction can cause many harms. This Research in Context feature looks at research into the causes of addiction and new ways to treat it.
Jennifer Lopez Gets Down to Business in a Pencil Skirt
Whether or not you’re personally on board with the look, Jennifer Lopez will always be a ride-or-die pencil skirt fan.
Apple releases new updates for old versions of iOS, macOS, watchOS, more
Apple debuted new software updates today for old iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and watchOS versions, including iOS 18.7.7 and more.
Preview: Two injured forwards return for Avalanche in Pittsburgh
The Avs look to get revenge against Pittsburgh tonight.
Kent Alterman & Sarah Babineau’s Good Walk Entertainment Inks First-Look Deal With Sony Pictures Television
EXCLUSIVE: Good Walk Entertainment, the production company founded by former top Comedy Central executives Kent Alterman and Sarah Babineau, has signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television....
The Oura Ring 5 Just Leaked a Year Early
If these images are real, this is the first look at the Oura Ring 5.
Age Comes for Us All—Even Politicians
Don’t look now, but the period from now through the 2028 presidential election will be a historic inflection point in our politics. We’ll see enormous generational change take place amid enormous uncertainty and volatility.
Paranovus Entertainment Technology (PAVS) surges 125.9% as low-float dynamics amplify trading volatility
Paranovus Entertainment Technology Ltd. (PAVS) is up 125.9% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.Analysis: The most likely driver looks technical rather than fundamental: PAVS has been prone to sharp, liquidity-driven swings after its recent reverse split reduced share count and tightened the tradable float. This could also be because traders are positioning around potential changes in the company’s at-the-ma
Bleisure travel continues to reshape the business trip
Business travel no longer ends when meetings do. Across the United States, conference attendees increasingly add personal time to work trips, turning what once looked like a quick flight in and out into a long weekend or short getaway built...
Avalon’s New Challenges, Opportunities in Life Science Investing
LA JOLLA – As Avalon BioVentures wraps up deploying its very first fund, the $135 million ABV1, the early stage focused venture capital firm is already lookin
Pro Padel League raises $15 million as investors bet on sport’s U.S. growth
The Pro Padel League has raised $15 million in new funding as it looks to accelerate its next phase of growth in the U.S.
March fixture list for Arsenal’s 14 internationals
Following five withdrawals, 14 Arsenal players will be involved in the March internationals, so let’s take a look at when they’ll all be in action.Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty ImagesThe vario...
SC bill looks to put more money in the pockets of at-home health workers
SC lawmakers will hear a bill that looks to increase take-home pay for at-home health care workers in the state.
We disagreed on politics. We agreed on wine. That was enough.
At the Virginia Governor’s Cup Gala in Richmond earlier this month, a very dapper gentleman approached me and introduced himself. In his light-colored suit and bowtie, he looked very Southern in a classical sense, the sort of Virginia Gentleman you used to see south of the Rappahannock as recently as my college days. “I’m a longtime reader and fan of your writing, if not your politics,” he said. His comment was the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, simultaneously conveying praise and disapproval while establishing boundaries. Man, I wish we still discoursed like this instead of shouting bromides and insults to try and “own” our opponents with a funny meme and a furrowed brow. Subscribe “Well, we’ll always have wine to share together,” I said, and thanked him for his kind words. We clinked glasses, exchanged pleasantries about the delicious gold medal-winning wines being poured that evening, and went our separate ways. Our exchange reminded me that more unites us than divides us. Wine brings people together to share a meal and a few hours of joy despite our differences.1 That’s why I refer to the wine community — including readers and consumers — rather than the wine industry. Together, we are so much more than production, distribution and sales statistics. A few minutes later the evening’s awards ceremony began. Applause grew as the 12 winemakers who made the top-scoring wines for the Governor’s Case took the stage, including a loud cheer for Jonathan Wheeler of Trump Winery and his 2018 Blanc de Noir sparkling wine. All the winemakers on stage had reason to be proud, Wheeler perhaps more so. Trump Winery was the only winery to win six gold medals in the competition this year. (Wineries are limited to six entries.) Two of Wheeler’s ciders also won gold medals in a separate competition. When you cover the labels and take the sour taste of politics off your palate, the wines are pretty darn good.2 Then Gov. Abigail Spanberger, newly elected Democrat and Virginia’s first female governor, was introduced to great applause to announce which of the 12 wines had won the Governor’s Cup. She spoke for a few minutes about the importance of wine to Virginia’s economy and tourism and the international acclaim Virginia wine has received. Just two weeks earlier, she gave the Democrats’ response to Trump’s State of the Union speech, but this night wasn’t about politics. That didn’t stop several people in the crowd from speculating on the irony should she have to present the trophy to Trump Winery. In the end, Valley Road Vineyards was displayed on the screen behind Spanberger as the winning winery. Blue Bee Cidery in Richmond took top honors for that category. The crowd cheered a female governor presenting the state’s highest trophy to a female winemaker and then resumed the evening’s festivities, united by their mutual love of wine. A whiff of politics couldn’t dim the cheer of celebration and a community united by its love of wine. In Memoriam: Michel Rolland The global wine community lost a giant March 20, with the passing of Michel Rolland. He was 78. Rolland was the original “flying winemaker,” a globe-trotting consultant who helped Bordeaux regain its mojo in the 1970s and then shaped the rise of Napa Valley cult Cabernet as consultant to Simi, Harlan, Newton, Screaming Eagle, Araujo, Dalle Valle and other wineries. He was instrumental in Argentina’s rise to prominence and even had his own winery, Clos de los Siete, in a partnership with other wine families. Rolland’s career arc paralleled that of Robert Parker, the world’s most influential critic. Parker championed many of the wines Rolland consulted on, helping build his reputation and demand for his services. It also made him a target for Parker’s critics. As W. Blake Gray wrote on Wine-Searcher in his excellent tribute to Rolland: Rolland created the type of wines Parker loved: rich body, plenty of fruit, soft tannins. He sometimes faced the accusation of creating a generic international style of red wine, where the great wines he made in Argentina were indistinguishable from the great wines he made in France. Rolland chafed at that critique, as did many of his fans. He was credited with championing green harvesting and leaf pulling, as well as careful selection of grapes in the winery, practices we nearly universally think of today for high-quality winemaking. “Michel was an incredible innovator who changed how wine was made and how grapes were grown,” Napa Valley winemaker Aaron Pott wrote on Facebook. “His work has transformed the wine trade. He created new ways of looking at wine, tasting wine, evaluating ripeness and quality. … This was not just a man with a ‘style’ that he imposed on vineyards but a man that understood how to make great wine from great sites.” Rolland started his consulting company in 1973 in Libourne, in Bordeaux, with his wife, Dany. Both had graduated the year before from Bordeaux’s Institute d’Oenologie. The couple sold their majority share in the business in 2020, according to Wine Spectator. Over his career, Rolland reportedly worked with more than 100 wineries in 20 countries. He even made it to Virginia, where he consulted for Kluge Estate in the mid-2000s. (Kluge Estate is now Trump Winery.) Reader feedback, please! Last week, I did my first WineLine Live! with Dr. Laura Catena of Catena Zapata winery in Argentina. We enjoyed a fascinating discussion about her efforts to preserve the genetic heritage of old vineyards in Mendoza. I conceived of WineLine Live! for paid subscribers, as a thank you for your financial support. And while only a few people joined live, the video now has more views than I have paid subscribers, so I guess that’s pretty good. Even so, I’m considering opening future installments to anyone on Substack to reach a broader audience. So my questions to you: Should these be public? And what format do you prefer? Live gives a chat feature with the potential for viewers to interact with me and the guest, while a video post would just be that. Another alternative is a podcast, which would just be audio, without video of my chins. Please let me know in the comments. Leave a comment In the Glass A few wines I’ve enjoyed recently: Bonny Doon Vineyard Take Me to Your Liter, Le Cigare Volant, Red Wine of the Earth. 2023, Central Coast, CA. Blend of Grenache, Syrah Cinsaut and Petite Sirah. Delightful wine with expressive red fruit flavors, casual drinking. Doon lovers of a certain age will remember Randall Grahm’s Big House Red; this is more in that style than his original Le Cigare Volant, modeled after Chateauneuf du Pape. The liter bottle makes it an even better value. I see this online at about $15. Great value. Albert Bichot Bourgogne Pinot Noir Origines 2023. 13% - Textbook pinot noir and an excellent, affordable entry (regional) Burgundy. Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines of 2025. $24 at Total Wine & More. Loma Larga Pinot Noir 2021 “Coastal Cool Climate Wine”, Valle de Casablanca, Chile. An older sample, showing beautifully. Spicy and fruit forward. I’m seeing widely varied pricing online, from $18-$32. At the lower end, it’s a terrific value. 13.5% Dr. Loosen Riesling Dry 2016, Mosel, Germany. Found this “in the stack.” And it stacked up well, shedding some of its youthful acidity for opulent Riesling character, including a hint of the mineral oil older Riesling often features. A great value, as I’m seeing it as low as $14 online. 12% abv. Red Tail Ridge Blau Franc Blend 2024, Sans Oak, Finger Lakes. 13.4% abv. The name is a neat portmanteau of Blaufrankisch and Cabernet Franc, thus Blau Franc. The blend is 50-50, no oak involved. The Blau dominates on the palate, with the spicy caraway seed (think New York deli rye bread). The Franc adds body. The result is juicy, energetic and joyful. Sokol Blosser Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir 2025, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon. This first rosé of 2025 was a welcome respite to our cold, snowy winter here in the Mid-Atlantic. Oh man, I needed this! Bright and energetic, exuberant even, it perks up the mood and goes down fast. 13%. Certified B Corp. Ingredient and nutrition labeling, and in a modest way that doesn’t occupy a lot of label space. (Since it’s not required, presumably there are no minimum font size requirements.) More wineries should follow this example. Dave McIntyre's WineLine is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Thanks for reading Dave McIntyre's WineLine! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share 1 Some restraint may be required. 2 Especially the bubblies.
Jacobs Entertainment gets permits for sports fields, now under construction
2 News Nevada has gotten a look at new youth sports fields that are under construction in downtown Reno.
The Monday Outlook: Project Hail Mary and the Science Behind Blockbuster Sci-Fi
Project Hail Mary is the latest sci-fi blockbuster to stretch the bounds of audience imagination and stir the curiosity of real scientists. But the science driving films like Project Hail Mary, Interstellar and The Martian isn’t all fictional: at UChicago, researchers exploring the cosmos and decoding the origins of life are making discoveries that would feel right at home on the big screen. This week's Monday Outlook features scientists from UChicago and Argonne National Laborat
Woman dies after being shot in vehicle, collapsing in business while seeking help
A woman who was shot inside her vehicle at an Aurora apartment complex and collapsed in a nearby business while looking for help has died, and Aurora police are looking for information about the su…
Seattle Sports This Week: TV and radio for March 23-29
A look at the broadcast schedule for March 16-22 on Seattle Sports 710 AM and the Seattle Sports app, as well as local sports teams on TV.
Design Files: Mirrodin, Part 4
Mark finishes his trip through Mirrodin's design handoff file with a look at the set's rare artifacts and lands.
The week ahead: Another big (and tough) week for Penguins
Looking at what the Pittsburgh Penguins need to do to secure their spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.
Microsoft Exchange Online service change causes email access issues
Microsoft is working to address an ongoing service issue that has intermittently prevented some users from accessing their cloud-based Exchange Online mailboxes via Outlook mobile and Mac desktop clients since Thursday.
As President Trump’s Attacks on Science Escalate, Big Oil Moves to Avoid Legal Accountability
This piece was originally published in Climate Home News. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) recently agreed to hear arguments in Boulder v. Exxon and Suncor a case that could decide whether communities harmed by climate change can hold polluters accountable in state court. Origin
'BTS: The Return' review: The world's biggest boy band, without a clear direction
The documentary is an intimate, surprisingly revelatory look at BTS in transition — and the complicated process of figuring out who they are now.
A Look At PENN Entertainment (PENN) Valuation As Expansion Projects And New Financing Move Ahead
Expansion plans and fresh financing reshape the PENN Entertainment story PENN Entertainment (PENN) has put expansion and balance sheet moves front and center, with new casino and hotel projects in Aurora and Columbus alongside a fresh US$600 million senior notes offering. See our latest analysis for PENN Entertainment. Despite the new projects and financing, PENN’s 1 year total shareholder return of 21.21% and 5 year total shareholder return of 86.08% sit well behind peers. A recent 4.99% 1...
Diabetes, Overlooked and Unchecked, Poses New Risks in Africa
As deaths from diabetes start to rival those from infectious threats like malaria, a new form of the condition linked to malnutrition is surfacing in patients who can afford neither screening nor care.
Personnel note: Tampa Electric names Ed Narain as Director of Regional Affairs
'Tampa Electric has a long history of supporting the growth and success of the communities it serves, and I look forward to helping strengthen those partnerships.'
Small swings, high drama: why UK polls are less volatile than they seem
In what is beginning to look like a fragmented five-party system, small swings carry outsized political consequences
Obesity report sets out vision for healthy future in Peterborough
A new obesity charter for Peterborough says authorities should look beyond individual behaviour.
Three Years on, What Have We Learned From the Vogue Business Size Inclusivity Report?
Vogue Business began recording size inclusivity on the runway three years ago. Today, mid and plus-size representation is at an all-time low.
BUSINESS MONDAY: Spotlight on Sarah's Cheesecakes & Cafe in Pittsfield
The small family-owned and -operated operation is celebrating its 20th anniversary—and looking forward to many more years to come.
Surging Hawks look to take advantage of short-handed Grizzlies
The streaking Atlanta Hawks will try to enhance their push for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference when they host the struggling Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.
Vermont may look across borders to help bring in business
House passes bill to create sister state program for economic development.
Exit polls suggest lead for Merz's SPD in key west German state
Far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) looks set for a record score in western Germany
Michael McCarthy Considering Three Races As Options For Journalism's Return
After Journalism worked five furlongs in company Sunday at Santa Anita, trainer Michael McCarthy said he is looking at three potential races to kick off the colt’s 4-year-old campaign. Journalism could return in either the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) or Ben Ali (G3) at Keeneland, both on April 18, or ...
Does walking after a meal improve gut health?
If you’re looking for ways to improve your digestion and gut health, doctors say walking after a meal may help.
Your Thymus and Your Healthspan
Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.
Apple’s busy March continues with three notable arrivals this week
Apple has had a jam-packed March so far after launching seven new products and surprisingly announcing an eighth. Looking ahead,...
Chiefs’ 2026 NFL Mock Draft roundup after NFL Free Agency
A closer look at the Chiefs’ 2026 mock draft outlook after free agency, with linked to edge help, cornerback, and offensive line support.
Why Small Process Changes Often Deliver the Biggest Business Results
Founders often overlook small operational frictions that drain productivity. Here is how small process improvements can unlock boost scaling.
NFL Network: What's next for Bills QB Josh Allen? (video)
NFL Network roundtable looks ahead to Josh Allen and the Bills in 2026.
Politics chat: Trump's mixed messages on the Iran war, the latest on DHS funding
We look at President Trump's mixed messages on the war with Iran, plus the latest on Department of Homeland Security funding, which Congress has frozen over his immigration enforcement policies.
Gen Z really, really loves China's trains
This is a condensed version of Business Insider Today, a newsletter that gives you a look at the week’s top stories. Sign up here to get the full Business Insider Today in your inbox every day for the top stories in markets, tech, and business.
6 Side Hustle Businesses You Can Start With $0
Looking to start a business on the side or earn extra income? These side hustle ideas have little to no start-up costs.
The Times' 2025-26 All-Star boys' basketball team
A look at the Los Angeles Times' 10-member All-Star boys' basketball team for the 2025-26 season.
Southland girls' basketball final rankings for 2025-26 seaosn
A look at the top 20 high school girls' basketball teams in the Southland, led by Open Division state champion Ontario Christian.
Central Mass. by the Numbers, Sunday, March 22
A look at business news in Central Mass. over the past week
New law firm formed; new executive director at chamber; hospital picks new chief of staff
Take a look at some of the recent promotions and new hires announced at south Louisiana businesses.
Things to do in Cincinnati this week, March 23-29
If you're looking for the best events happening in Cincinnati, you're at the right place. Find your next concert, game, festival or family event.
4 Takeaways From Fanatics Flag Football Classic: USA Football Dominates the Pros
Tom Brady looked the part in his return to the field, but USA Football overwhelmed their NFL counterparts in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic.
Predators look to further cement playoff position in Chicago
The streaking Nashville Predators moved into a Western Conference wild-card spot on Saturday.
Barry Keoghan is 'hiding away' after online 'abuse' over his looks: 'You don't want to even be on screen anymore'
Barry Keoghan says online 'abuse' over his looks is 'becoming a problem' and has made him shy away from the public eye: 'You don't want to even be on screen anymore.'
Islanders @ Canadiens [Game #70 thread]
The Islanders have a big one tonight in Montreal, where the Canadiens are in a three-way tie for the Atlantic’s third playoff spots (84 points, same as wild card occupants Detroit and Boston but with a game in hand) while the Islanders begin a night of play on the outside looking in for the first […]
Minecraft World Opening 2027, First Look at $70 Million Project
Theme park lovers who yearn for the mines will have their wish granted in 2027 with the debut of Minecraft World, based on the popular building video game.
NCDHHS launches new program looking to expand number of mental health providers in state
In North Carolina, the demand for social workers in the state is growing as substance use and mental health service needs increase. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services launched the Public Service Leadership Program, a collaboration between the NCDHHS and 25 higher education institutions in the Social Work Coalition on NC Work Development, to help with that demand.Alongside the announcement of the new program on March 2, the NCDHHS released its first “State of North Carolina’s Mental Health and Substance Use Services Workforce Report” supported by UNC’s Behavior Health Workforce Research Center and Sheps Health Workforce NC.
Ranking 5 most likely March Madness upsets in NCAA Tournament second round
The second round of 2026 NCAA Tournament is underway. Here's a look at the five most likely March Madness upset predictions in the Round of 32.
Lauren Betts powers UCLA women's basketball in March Madness. What to know about her
Lauren Betts powered UCLA to a 31-1 record entering March Madness, and is looking to help return the Bruins to the Final Four. What to know about her.
Wagering on women. Sports betting industry looks to unlock a new market
Sports betting marketers are wooing females, pitching their gambling as inclusive, empowering and a way to connect with friends.
Exclusive Blue Lagoon Skin Science Discount as Seen on TODAY
Shop TODAY's Adrianna Brach gets a behind-the-scenes look at the brand's innovative products.
6 years since lockdown, here's a look at COVID vaccine guidance today
Changing guidance around COVID-19 vaccines, specifically, has been central to RFK Jr.'s run as health secretary. A judge just struck some of it down.
‘Those days are over’: These business owners say they can’t raise prices even if they wanted to
Looking out his shop window, across the street, just to the right, Paloma Clothing co-owner Mike Roach sees one of Portland, Oregon’s, most expensive gas stations.
March Madness conference records: How Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and other fared in Round 1
Conference loyalty has never been more of a talking point than it is in the NCAA now. Here's a look at how each conference fared in the first round.
Yankees news: Optimism at shortstop
2026 looks promising at shortstop; Carlos Lagrange was electric this spring; Michael Kay defends Judge
Spurs look to extend winning streak while hosting hapless Pacers
The San Antonio Spurs carry a four-game winning streak as they continue their hunt for the top spot in the Western Conference while hosting the hapless Indiana Pacers on Saturday.
Salary cap: OL Elgton Jenkins’ contract with the Cleveland Browns
Looking at the details of Browns OL Elgton Jenkins’ contract, option bonuses, and incentives.
Microsoft's 7-point plan to fix Windows 11 makes macOS Tahoe look golden
macOS Tahoe may have its critics, but even Microsoft is struggling to find things to like about Windows 11. The...
Crimson Desert Players Debate If The Game Secretly Uses AI Art
One painting shows off a terrifying convention of weird-looking centaurs
Mark Cerny Confirms Frame Generation "Should Be Seen At Some Point On PlayStation Platforms"
"I look forward to discussing this more in the future!"